Step 3 Self-assessment exercises: reading and understanding · Web viewAffluence came to America...

Step 3 Self-assessment exercises: reading and understanding

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of 25 14th August 2020

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Contents Step 3 Self-assessment exercises: reading and

understanding 3.1 Read and understand academic course

books and materials 3.2 Task 1: Arts 3.3 Task 2: Maths 3.4 Task 3: Science

Solutions






3.1 Read and understand academic course books and materialsThese exercises are designed to help you assess how easy you

find it to understand course materials: to get the overall meaning

and the key ideas. You can choose:

Task 1 (Arts course),

Task 2 (Maths course),

Task 3 (Science course),

or if you wish, you can do all three.

3.2 Task 1: ArtsThe following extract is from The Open University course A103 An introduction to the humanities. (The course material here

refers to the 1960s.)

Please read the text and comments in the suggested answers 1 to

6, listed below. Select the answers you feel are most accurate in

relation to the text.

Abstract





Affluence came to America during the Second World War, and

(though there were still many pockets of severe poverty) continued

thereafter; economic recovery began in Europe from 1948

onwards.

Slowly the economic basis was established for the production,

consumption and international exchange of new consumer goods.

Between the mid-fifties and the mid-sixties there was a great

increase in the number of multinational companies. New

purchasers appeared in the market place: particularly young

married couples, the working class in general, racial and ethnic

minorities, those in the regions and provinces asserting

themselves for the first time against metropolitan dominance, and

women and girls.

Economic change combined with demography, specifically the

‘baby boom’ at the end of the Second World War, producing by the

beginning of the sixties an unprecedentedly large, and

unprecedentedly well-off, teenage presence in the market place

(and young people could operate as producers as well as

consumers).

Major technological developments of importance are those in

television (including Telstar), 45-rpm records and transistor radios,

in electronic synthesizers, in advanced consumer products,

refrigerators, washing machines, and so on, and in the





development of the contraceptive pill. Ideologically conservative

forces were strong, reinforced by the frigid influences of the Cold

War and hysteria in the United States about ‘un-American’

activities.

Affluence and consumerism were taken as validating the

perfections of existing society. However, new critiques of society

were appearing in the fifties, and formed the basis for the much

more rapid and extended circulation of critical ideas in the sixties:

neo-Marxism (Marcuse), the beginnings of structuralism, the ‘New

Left’, the establishment of sociology departments, particularly in

the European universities, and the first limited circulation of the

notions of the American Beats. Old racial boundaries were crossed

in a much more comprehensive way than ever before as young

whites adopted and adapted black rhythm 'n blues.

QuestionsActivity 1

Having read the extract in the box above, decide which of the

following statements are most appropriate.

Please select either (a) or (b) in each case. You can find the

relevant section of the text for each question in the answers at the

bottom of the activity.

The first example has been done for you.





a) America became a poor country after the war.

b) America became a rich country after the war.

Answer: b is correct because, ‘affluence’ (line 1) means rich.

a) There was a growth in trading between countries.

b) There was a decline in trading between countries.

View answer - Part

a) The population increased in the '50s and '60s.

b) The population decreased in the '50s and '60s.

View answer - Part

a) The greatest advances were in entertainment.

b) The greatest advances were in technological developments.

View answer - Part

a) America was becoming more ideolgically traditional.

b) America was becoming more ideologically liberal.

View answer - Part





a) Everyone approved of the new form of society.

b) People were begining to be critical of society.

View answer - Part

View answer - Part

3.1.1 Self-assessment (A) I got all the answers right and found it easy to do.

(B) I got most of the answers right, but it took me

longer than 15 minutes.

(C) I found this difficult and got most of the answers

wrong.

Please now turn to your Step 8 Self-assessment grid and note

in the appropriate column for this task whether your self-

assessment is A, B or C.

3.3 Task 2: MathsThe paragraphs numbered 1–7, below, are adapted from MU120

Unit 0, Preparing for open mathematics.

Please read through all seven paragraphs and choose a heading from the box which seems to sum up the theme of each

paragraph in turn.




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Sample Answer

1 Why a calculator?

The course makes use of a calculator in order to help you to learn

and understand the mathematics in the course – a calculator is

not, as some people still seem to believe, a substitute for learning

mathematics. In fact, using a calculator can enable you to see the

underlying mathematics more readily in several ways.

Some advantages of the course calculator are given below, but as

you work with the calculator you may find other useful aspects to

add to your list.

SAQ2The calculator takes the tedium out of long calculations with

numbers that would be fearsome to do in your head or time-

consuming to do with pencil and paper. For example, the calculator

takes about the same time to multiply 123.57 by .598 as to do 2 x

2.

View answer - SAQ2





SAQ3You can correct mistakes in the input for a calculation easily and

investigate what happens if you change one number in the

calculation, for example, the interest rate or the price of an article.

View answer - SAQ3

SAQ4The calculator does not make mistakes in the way that human

brains tend to do. Human fingers do, however, make mistakes

sometimes; and the calculator may not be doing what you think

you told it to do. So correcting errors and estimating the

approximate size of answers are important skills in double-

checking your calculator calculations. (Just as they are for

checking calculations done in your head or on paper!)

View answer - SAQ4

SAQ5The calculator retains numbers, formulas and programs which you

have stored in it, even when it is turned off. You can recall them

when you need them and so save time by not having to enter the

same information again.

View answer - SAQ5





SAQ6The calculator is very useful for ordinary arithmetic and yet it can

also perform many functions commonly associated with a

computer and deal with quite advanced mathematics. It is useful

for both beginners and experts alike, because it has a variety of

modes of operation.

View answer - SAQ6

SAQ7The calculator is small and slips conveniently into a bag or pocket.

You will be able to carry it around with you and use it unobtrusively

as and when you want – perhaps in a shop, on a train or in a

restaurant.

View answer - SAQ7

3.3.1 Self-assessment (A) My answers match the above list and I found the

task easy to do. I did it in less than 5 minutes.

(B) Most of my answers match, but it took me longer

than 5 minutes.

(C) I found this difficult. It took me a long time. Or,

most of the answers do not match the above list.







assessment is A, B or C.

3.3.2 Advice on reading and understanding academic texts

When reading new materials, first read through a

complete section without stopping to get a general idea of the overall meaning.

Try to guess unfamiliar words from the context.

Then, read the section again and check key words in

an English-to-English dictionary.

Write the definitions in English, not in your first

language.

Write a sentence or two in English, in your own words,

summarising the main ideas in the text.

3.4 Task 3: ScienceThe following extract is from The Open University course S154

Science starts here. Please read the text in the box below then

answer the questions that follow it.

Keeping our water clean






Pollution from domestic sewage can lead to more than one sort of

problem. Most obviously, sewage is a source of water-borne

diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever. A second problem

with sewage is that the bacteria that break it down, during a

process called respiration, use dissolved oxygen from the water to

do so. This same dissolved oxygen also supports the other aquatic

life. The more sewage there is in the water, the more bacteria are

required to break it down and the more dissolved oxygen they use,

leaving less oxygen for fish and other aquatic animals. Once the

oxygen in the water is used up, animals that need oxygen die. It

isn't long before the water begins to smell distinctly unpleasant due

to the gases released when the sewage begins to be broken down

by bacteria that can live without oxygen. If you've ever stirred up

the mud at the bottom of a stagnant pond, you will know exactly

what we mean.

Agricultural activities pose problems through both crop spraying

and the use of fertilisers. Crop spraying is carried out to prevent

damage to crops from weeds and various forms of pests. However,

such spraying can disperse herbicides and pesticides over a wide

area so that they end up in water that drains into rivers and lakes.

In high enough doses these pollutants may be toxic and, like lead

and mercury, they can accumulate in the tissues of animals and so

end up in our bodies too. Fertilisers contain nutrients, substances

essential for the healthy growth of all plants and animals. However,





when fertiliser seeps into lakes and rivers by drainage off the land

it can lead to excessive plant growth. As a lake surface becomes

covered with water weed, oxygen can no longer be dissolved in the

water to replenish what is being used by fish and other aquatic

animals. Once again, starved of oxygen, the animal life soon

begins to die, and the water becomes stagnant and foul-smelling.

Having read the passage above, which of the following statements

are true?

Please select either option (a) or (b) in each case, then compare

your answer with those below.

The first one has been done for you as an example.

Question 1 (a) Cholera and Typhoid fever can be carried in water

polluted by sewage.

(b) Oxygen released from sewage smells unpleasant.

(a) is correct.

(b) is incorrect, because the smell is caused by gases

given off by bacteria which survive when there is no

oxygen present.

Question 2 (a) Some bacteria use oxygen to break down sewage.





(b) Sewage accumulates in river mud, where it helps

plant growth.

View answer - Question 2

Question 3 (a) Aquatic animals need nutrients from fertiliser for

healthy growth.

(b) Drainage of fertilizer into lakes may pollute the

water.


Question 4 (a) Fertiliser from farmland will break down sewage in

rivers.

(b) Herbicide and pesticide concentration can build up

in humans.


Question 5 (a) Oxygen can be dissolved in lake water.

(b) Fish and other aquatic animals cause water in a

lake to stagnate.






Question 6The first paragraph is best summarised by the sentence:

(a) Crop spraying, agricultural fertiliser, industrial

waste and domestic sewage can all contaminate

water.

(b) Sewage can pollute water both by introducing

water-borne diseases and by reducing the amount of

oxygen available for aquatic animals.


3.4.1 Self-assessment (A) I got all the answers right and found it easy to do.

(B) I got most of the answers right, but it took me

longer than 15 minutes.

(C) I found this difficult and got most of the answers

wrong.



assessment is A, B or C. Please open this in a separate window.






Now go to Step 4 Self-assessment exercises: identifying points and expressing ideas.




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Solutions

Activity 1PartAnswerRight:

a) There was a growth in trading between countries.

Wrong:

b) There was a decline in trading between countries.

Back to - Part

PartAnswerRight:

a) The population increased in the '50s and '60s.

Wrong:

b) The population decreased in the '50s and '60s.

Back to - Part





PartAnswerRight:

b) The greatest advances were in technological developments.

Wrong:

a) The greatest advances were in entertainment.

Back to - Part

PartAnswerRight:

a) America was becoming more ideolgically traditional.

Wrong:

b) America was becoming more ideologically liberal.

Back to - Part

Part





AnswerRight:

b) People were begining to be critical of society.

Wrong:

a) Everyone approved of the new form of society.

Back to - Part

PartAnswer

Question Option Comment2 a there was

‘international exchange’ (paragraph 2)

3 a there was a ‘baby boom’ (paragraph 3) after the war

4 b see paragraph 45 a ‘traditional’ means

conservative (paragraph 4) 6 b ‘critiques’ (paragraph

5) means expressing opposing ideas

Back to - Part

SAQ2 of 25 14th August 2020




AnswerSpeed

Back to - SAQ2

SAQ3AnswerEditing

Back to - SAQ3

SAQ4AnswerAccuracy

Back to - SAQ4

SAQ5AnswerMemory

Back to - SAQ5

SAQ6





AnswerFlexibility

Back to - SAQ6

SAQ7AnswerConvenience

Back to - SAQ7

Question 2Answer

The correct answer is (a).

(b) is incorrect because the article does not suggest

that sewage accumulates (builds up) in mud, nor that

it helps plant growth.

Back to - Question 2

Question 3Answer

The correct answer is (b).





(a) is incorrect because nutrients from fertiliser actually

cause aquatic animals to be starved of oxygen.


Question 4Answer


(a) is incorrect because the article does not describe

any connection between fertiliser and sewage.


Question 5Answer

The correct answer is (a).

(b) is incorrect because it is bacteria in sewage which

use up the oxygen in the water.


Question 6Answer






Although the statement in (a) is correct, paragraph one

only discusses sewage; industrial waste is not

mentioned in the extract.





Step 3 Self-assessment exercises: reading and understanding · Web viewAffluence came to America...

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